We are seeing a glimpse into the future of technology. Pokémon Go topping over 20 million downloads is viral. The game has years of fan base development but hasn’t seen positive reception like this for over a decade. I don’t believe it is the game that is so revolutionary but the technology.

Augmented reality is the backbone of the Pokémon’s success. The technology superimposes the games world into real life. So to achieve success in the game you must walk around in the physical world. The reception is astronomical and it’s not just kids playing it. The vast majority of the video game population is young boys under the age of 20. However, the average Pokémon go player is 31 years of age and 48% of the players are women, according to Forbes.

The thrill of exploration

The technology brings back the thrill of exploration, encouraging players to explore their neighborhood and city. The game brings “rewards” for exploration by finding items and different Pokémon’s. The game allows you to buy something called “lures”. Placing lures in specific locations attract Pokémon, making these sites more attractive to players. Business’ have already started to take advantage of this by purchasing lures for their locations. In hopes that some of the players will bring in sales for the Business. Dairy queen is one of the early adopters of this advertising method.

The game sheds light on our reliance on technology, and may bring the first significant artificial intelligence into our world. I don’t believe we are far off from full-on virtual realities. Players begin to treat location’s based on their game implications instead of the real world life implications. There have already been a couple of accidents from players not paying attention to where they are going.

Artificial intelligence

The implications of the world’s adoption of this technology are not clear. I imagine a world not far from now where Siri-like technology is with us every second of the day. Where millennials can’t imagine the world without computers and the internet.

The difference between the internet sensation and the coming artificial intelligence is data. The AI will have years and years of data that internet is producing daily. Once established AI’s reception will be much greater than the internet. It will be able to assist humans in many ways we thought never possible.

For example, when viewing a web page, an engagement of “Google now” prompts suggestions based on the content of the web page. This is only the beginning of the implementation of the growing technology. I Imagine the world where googling doesn’t exist, AI just does it for you. Let’s say I am typing up an email, the AI will be able to pull from the content I am producing and suggest further actions or sources. Increasing productivity and efficiency.

I believe between virtual realities and artificial intelligence we will see a drastic change in the way we live our worlds. We must be receptive but cautious of the capabilities of AI. Our world is changing in front of our eyes. Happy Pokémon everybody!